Lucid dreams

Thanks to @Theblackdoll for the inspiration behind this article. I was talking with her on one of her previous articles about some of the dreams I have had in the past and she made mention of lucid dreams, I immediately wrote it down and decided to work on it later today 😁.

Now first off, what is a lucid dream? According to WebMD;

lucid dreams are when you know that you’re dreaming while you’re asleep.

You’re aware that the events flashing through your brain aren’t really happening. But the dream feels vivid and real. You may even be able to control how the action unfolds, as if you’re directing a movie in your sleep.

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It's a very rare occurrence and it takes a lot of years to master. A lot of people don't know they are dreaming except maybe after they have woken up before they realize it was a dream. Back when I was a kid, I had no control over my dream and they always appear so real that I won't even realize it was a dream.

But how did I later learn how to become self-aware and control my dreams? I started noticing a lot of crazy things that made me realize it just couldn't be real life 😆 From then on, I started watching out for such crazy signs to let me know that I am dreaming, and at one point I didn't even need to look for signs for me to know.

When I was younger, I had a couple of nightmares that usually involves ghosts and demons and it's probably because I watched a lot of horror movies as a kid (and that's why I love horror movies now 😁). Those nightmares always look so real and I most times woke up screaming.

It got to a point that my parents had to get something that looks like a pot made from wire mesh and burnt incense in it to drive away the "evil spirits" responsible for my nightmares. Usually, when those ghosts or demons attack me in my dream, they start by chasing me and I run like hell but sometimes I can't even run because my legs refuse to respond.

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Seeing as I can't run, the ghost quickly catches up with me and I wake up screaming and unable to move for a minute or two (sleep paralysis). After some time, I started learning how to fight back and it began by not being scared of those ghosts or demons. I sometimes fight back using magic or I appear as one of those movies' superheroes (like superman 😁).

But even at that, I only knew I was dreaming but I still couldn't control how things turn out, I only knew I don't have to be scared of those demons anymore. I kept working on that and it finally got to the point where I had very good control over my dreams. Whenever I dream and those demons appear, I can choose to ignore them or I make them disappear by simply snapping my fingers.

I remember there was a day during one of my dream episodes, I walked up to a random stranger and just said "I am dreaming o, my body is in the real world" 😂. I still don't have full control over what happens, but I do control a lot of things and I can even change environments by simply just closing my eyes and thinking about where I want to be.

But the thing is, I hardly dream these days but that's not actually the right sentence I should be using, the right one is; I hardly remember my dreams these days and that's because R.E.M sleep decreases as we grow older and we no longer remember most of our dreams (or that we even dreamt) because our brain has learned to let go of our dreams and simply discard them (not fair, right?).

But why are lucid dreams not very common in everyone? According to a research, it suggests that people who are most likely to have lucid dreams tend to be self-reflective types who chew over thoughts in their heads. one benefit of lucid dreaming is that it helps to reduce anxiety because it gives you a sense of being in full control.

It makes you feel empowered when you know you're dreaming and you will be able to shape the story in whatever way you want. It's very useful for people that have nightmares (just like me) because you will be able to control what and how you dream.

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How can you dream lucidly? While researching on this topic, I found out that you can increase your chances of having lucid dreams by tuning your mind to notice unusual and crazy details in your dream which will make you know it's not real (just like what I did when I was younger).

Researchers have tried a lot of other methods in a bid to trigger lucid dreams and you can find more details about it here if you're interested 😉. This topic made me remember the song by juice wurd titled lucid dreams. Check it out below, it's a great song

So, what about you? Have you ever had a lucid dream? Do let me know in the comment box below.

Thanks for reading 💖💖💖

Friday March 25, 2022